The Notes: No. 5 Clemson 51, No. 21 Wake Forest 45 (2 OT)
Clemson played its 16th overtime game in school history and its first since Sept. 25 last season at NC State. It was the sixth multi-overtime game in school history and Clemson’s third in three years.
Clemson trailed, 35-28, after the third quarter but engineered its first fourth-quarter comeback win since back-to-back comebacks against Florida State and Louisville a season ago.
Quarterback DJ Uiagalelei completed 26-of-41 passes for a season-high 371 passing yards with a career-high five passing touchdowns. He also added 52 rushing yards on 14 carries.
The 300-yard passing game was Uiagalelei’s first of the season and the third of his career, pulling him with one of the career total of his position coach Brandon Streeter (four from 1996-99). It was Uiagalelei’s first 300-yard game since his career-high 439-yard effort at Notre Dame in 2020.
Uiagalelei became the first Clemson quarterback to throw five touchdown passes in a game since Trevor Lawrence at Georgia Tech in 2020.
Uiagalelei improved to 15-4 as a starter, becoming the 17th Clemson player since World War II to earn at least 15 career victories as starting quarterback.
Uiagalelei engineered his fourth career fourth-quarter comeback win, tying Deshaun Watson for the second-most by a Clemson quarterback since 2000.
Uiagalelei completed each of his first seven passes, his most to open a game this season, surpassing completions on each of his first six passes against Louisiana Tech. It was one completion shy of matching his best start when he completed his first eight passes against Boston College in 2020 in his first career start.
Uiagalelei became the first Clemson player to throw for 300 or more yards, rush for 50 or more yards and throw three touchdowns in a game since Deshaun Watson accomplished the feat against Louisville on Oct. 1, 2016.
Uiagalelei produced the first game by a Clemson player with at least 370 passing yards, at least five touchdowns and no interceptions since Watson at NC State in 2015.
Uiagalelei finished with a 179.7 pass efficiency rating and has now posted three consecutive games with a passer rating of 145.0 or better for the first time in his career.
Uiagalelei opened the scoring on a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Briningstool.
The receiving touchdown was Briningstool’s career-high second of the season and the third of his career.
Entering the game, Clemson and Wake Forest ranked No. 2 and No. 4, respectively, in the nation in number of games scoring first. With the win, Clemson improved to 42-4 since 2018 when scoring first, while Wake Forest dropped to 5-10 when opponents score first in the same span.
Briningstool finished the game with six receptions for a career-high 72 yards, surpassing his previous career high of 56 yards against UConn last season.
Wide receiver Joseph Ngata gained a season-high 84 yards on four receptions.
Running back Will Shipley rushed 20 times for 104 yards with a touchdown. He has now rushed for 100 yards in consecutive games for the second time in his career.
On Clemson’s first play from scrimmage, Shipley (1,091) surpassed 1,000 career rushing yards with a career-long 53-yard rush.
Shipley scored on a one-yard touchdown run on a second effort in the fourth quarter. Shipley has now rushed for a touchdown in seven consecutive games, dating to last season. His streak is Clemson's longest since Travis Etienne rushed for a touchdown in seven straight games in 2020.
Shipley’s touchdown streak ties Kenny Flowers (seven consecutive games in 1985) and Travis Etienne (seven-game streaks in 2018 and 2020) for the sixth-longest streak of consecutive games with a rushing touchdown in Clemson history.
Wide receiver Brannon Spector scored his first career touchdown on a career-long 41-yard reception on Clemson’s second drive.
Tight end Davis Allen caught four passes for 36 yards with two touchdowns. He became the first Clemson tight end to catch multiple touchdown passes in a game since Braden Galloway against Miami (Fla.) in 2020.
Allen scored his first touchdown of the season on a five-yard pass from Uiagalelei in the third quarter. Allen added a 21-yard touchdown catch in the second overtime period.
The touchdown catches were Allen’s eighth and ninth of his career, pulling him into a tie with K.D. Dunn (nine from 1981-84) for the sixth-most by a tight end in Clemson history.
Following the Allen touchdown, Uiagalelei connected with Beaux Collins for a successful two-point conversion. It was Clemson’s first successful two-point conversion since the College Football Playoff National Championship Game against LSU to conclude the 2019 season, when Amari Rodgers converted the try on a pass from Trevor Lawrence.
Wide receiver Beaux Collins caught a 21-yard pass from Uiagalelei in the first overtime period.
Collins has now caught a touchdown in four straight games for the first time in his career. He became the first Clemson player with a touchdown catch in four straight games since Tee Higgins' five-game streak late in the 2019 season.
Collins became the first Clemson player to post a receiving touchdown in each of the first four games of a season since Sammy Watkins in 2011.
Wide receiver Antonio Williams made his first career start and recorded a career-long 39-yard reception from Uiagalelei on a third-down conversion in the second quarter.
Clemson concluded the first half with a 15-play, 51-yard drive that culminated in a 38-yard B.T. Potter field goal. In terms of plays run, it was Clemson’s longest drive of the season and its longest since a 16-play touchdown drive in last year’s Cheez-It Bowl.
Potter finished 3-for-3 on field goals and 4-for-4 on PATs.
Potter’s third field goal of the game, a career-long-tying 52-yarder, tied the game at 38 late in the fourth quarter. On the kick, Potter (60) joined Nelson Welch, Chandler Catanzaro, Obed Ariri and Chris Gardocki as the only players in school history with 60 career field goals.
Potter’s 52-yard field goal added to his existing Clemson records for career field goals of 40 yards or more (27) and 50 yards or more (eight).
With 13 points in the game, Potter (384 career points) passed Greg Huegel (379 from 2015-18) for fourth in school history in career points.
Linebacker Trenton Simpson recorded his first forced fumble of the season in the first quarter.
Defensive tackle Tyler Davis returned to action after missing two games and recorded two sacks to push his career sack total to 12.0.
Defensive tackle Ruke Orhorhoro added his second sack of the season.
Clemson converted 16-of-23 third downs. Clemson’s 16 third-down conversions were a school single-game record, surpassing its 15 against Western Carolina in 1983.
Clemson scored 51 points, its most since a 52-17 win against Pitt in 2020.
Clemson has now produced back-to-back 40-point performances for the first time since last year's UConn and Wake Forest games. Clemson has also scored 45 points in back-to-back games for the first time since the Pitt and Virginia Tech games to end the 2020 regular season.
Clemson has now scored 35 points in four consecutive games for the first time since a seven-game streak to open the 2020 season. Clemson also reached the 30-point mark for the ninth time in a 10-game span, dating to last season.
Clemson gained 559 yards and has now gained 500 yards in back-to-back games for the first time since games against Miami (Fla.) and Georgia Tech in 2020.
Clemson played its first game without a lost turnover since Oct. 15 of last season at Syracuse.
Neither team recorded a turnover in the game, the first Clemson game in which neither team produced a turnover since Nov. 17, 2018 vs. Duke.
Clemson has now finished even or positive in the turnover margin in eight consecutive games, dating to last season. It represents Clemson's first time doing so since a nine-game streak in 2019. Clemson's last game in which it lost the turnover margin was on Nov. 6 last season at Louisville.
Clemson won despite 120 penalty yards, its most since the 2013 Orange Bowl vs. Ohio State (144).
The game included 11 combined passing touchdowns between the two teams, the most in a Clemson game in records dating back to 1950.
The game was only the third in Clemson history in which both teams scored at least 45 points, joining Clemson’s 2011 win against Maryland (56-45) and its 2012 win against NC State (62-48).
The game marked only the third time in history that Clemson and Wake Forest had met in a matchup of two AP-ranked teams. In the previous two meetings, No. 10 Clemson defeated No. 19 Wake Forest, 21-14, in 1948, and No. 16 Clemson defeated No. 17 Wake Forest, 13-12, in 1950.
Wake Forest took a 21-20 lead with 12:13 remaining in the third quarter. It ended a streak of 440 minutes and 50 seconds in which Clemson had not trailed, dating to last year’s game against UConn. It had been the longest active streak in the country.
Head Coach Dabo Swinney coached his 190th career game as Clemson's head coach to pull within one game of North Carolina and Wake Forest’s Bill Dooley (191) for third-most career games as an ACC head coach.
Captains for the contest were defensive tackle Tyler Davis, defensive end K.J. Henry, offensive lineman Will Putnam and quarterback DJ Uiagalelei.